Game time
Fireworks explode from the roof of the Asiad Stadium during the opening ceremony for the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea on September 19. — AP
Break and enter
White House intruder caught
Washington — A man sparked an evacuation at the White House on September after he scaled a fence and made it into the building before being captured.
US President Barack Obama and his family were not at the White House, although officials and journalists were rushed out of the building during the incident that began on the North Lawn around 7:20 pm on September 19, officials said.
Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary identified the intruder as Omar Gonzalez, 42, from Copperas Cove, Texas. Omar was apparently unarmed, officials said. — AFP
Village violence
Local fight leaves eight dead
Pajoques, Guatemala — An argument among villagers over plans to build a cement factory and a highway erupted into a battle with guns and machetes, killing at least eight people and wounding dozens, authorities said on September 20.
At least six vehicles and a house were burned in Pajoques, a town about 40 kilometres west of the capital, Guatemala City. The violence broke out late on September 20 when residents supporting the development projects argued with opponents, who say the construction would damage their land, Interior Minister Mauricio Lopez Bonilla said. — AP
Flooded Philippines
Flood victims on September 21 wade through water as they return home in Rizal province of the Philippines. — EPA
Feline frenzy
Man arrested for killing cats
Tokyo — Japanese police arrested a 33-year-old man on suspicion of a series of cat killings in Tokyo, where the bodies of more than 40 of the animals have been found since April, a report said on September 18.
The man was charged with injuring a cat at a parking lot in Tokyo on September 18. Police also found the bodies of four cats in the basket of his bicycle, the report said. The man said he killed the cats to relieve his stress and out of frustration with people who feed stray cats, investigators said. — DPA
Airport closed
Fights stop flights in Sana’a
Sana’a, Yemen — Yemen’s civil aviation authority said foreign airlines have halted flights into the main international airport in the capital because of heavy fighting in Sana’a between Shia rebels and Sunni militias.
In a statement on SABA news on September 19, the civil aviation authority said airlines suspended flights to Sana’a airport for 24 hours, after which they will review the security situation.
On September 19, fighting erupted between the Shia rebels known as the Hawthis and gunmen loyal to the Islah party, the Muslim Brotherhood’s branch in Yemen. — AP
Bomb blast
Two Egyptian policemen killed
Cairo — A bomb blast killed two Egyptian policemen near the foreign ministry in central Cairo on September 21, a security official said.
The interior ministry said in a statement that two lieutenant colonels were killed and several policemen were wounded in the attack at a police checkpoint. Police cordoned off the scene in a crowded district in central Cairo along the Nile River and scoured it with bomb-sniffing dogs.
The blast brought a tree down on to a car several metres from where one of the victims had fallen. — AFP
EASY NEWS FOR M1-3
Military mishap
Soldiers killed in crash
Cairo — An Egyptian military aircraft crashed. It happened in Fayoum province of Egypt on September 21. The aircraft was on a training session. Six soldiers were killed. Authorities said a technical failure caused the crash. — AFP
Exercises
1. Which of the following is TRUE, according to the story about the bomb blast in Cairo?
a. The bomb blast killed two nurses.
b. The incident happened at the beginning of September.
c. The police officers who died at the scene were lieutenant colonels.
2. Japanese police arrested a 33-year-old man on suspicion of a series of dog killings in Tokyo. True or false?
3. Where in Thailand did the train derail?
Vocabulary
- unarmed (adj): not carrying a weapon
machete (n): a broad heavy knife used as a cutting tool and as a weapon
frustration (n): the feeling of being annoyed and impatient because you cannot do or achieve what you want
halt (v): to make something stop
cordon off (phrasal v): to stop people from getting into an area by surrounding it with police, soldiers, etc.
